After a recent volcanic ash cloud enforced stay in Paris – still, the gastronomic capital of the world – one overriding fact became all too apparent. We in Britain may have seen a dining revolution take place over the last twenty odd years – unlike our Gaelic cousins – it is mostly predicated on large corporate chains. Try as I might – ok I didn’t at all – I couldn’t find one restaurant brand anywhere on the Rive Gauche or around Boullevard St Germain. Instead, thankfully, where dozens and dozens of chef/patron owned establishments, offering creative cuisine at a range [Read More]

Another of my favourite places also happens to be owned by one of my favourite people, the hugely convivial Paul Askew of the incomparable London Carriage Works, on Hope Street in Liverpool. He was fated recently with yet another gong at the North West Hospitality Awards in Manchester and, over the years, I can think of few restaurants that have garnered such an abundance of accolades. This latest one was for his recently extended boutique hotel, Hope Street, which is a tour de force of cutting edge design, married to Paul’s always exacting high standards. He has been one of [Read More]

“What’s your favourite restaurant?” – The question is an occupational hazard but one I don’t really mind. Over the years there have been several that have now sadly departed. Oliver Peyton’s wonderfully innovative Mash and Air in Manchester city centre, for a little while was the only place to be. I loved its radically chic, minimalist décor but sadly not enough other diners shared my view, because it lasted barely two years. The same was the case with Reform, which also burned incandescently for a little while and was the only place to see and be seen if you were [Read More]

Barely a week goes by without me receiving an invitation to one do or other. Some are ridiculous – like the recent request for me to visit an abattoir in Accrington to sample their award winning tripe, still warm from the kill. Others meanwhile are sublime and recently included an offer of lunch with ex-Emmerdale starlet Amy Nuttall. Now, with all due respect to busty ex-soap stars, I was particularly pleased to receive an invitation from none other than Steve Wynn, to visit his eponymous hotel in Las Vegas, especially in view of the current controversy raging around Britains [Read More]

The unforgettable Reg Holdsworth – Corrie’s own Don Juan – once, unforgettably, beseeched the ever fragrant Rita, to succumb to his entreaties, by enticing her to join him in The Precinct for a “Taste of Tuscany”. This gambit was not an attempt to get Wethersfield’s own femme fatale to come to forthcoming farmers market but instead, a request for her to join him at Coronations Streets latest fictional eatery. It just goes to show how foodie orientated we have all become, when the idea of enjoying not just Italian food but the individualistic flavours of its most famous region are [Read More]

Many people over the years have commented on my uncanny resemblance to the great David Niven, that urbane and stylish proponent of all things English. I can’t see it myself. The elegance? The poise? The womanising? The drinking?, The pencil thin moustache? Oh, well I suppose perm any two from five. And yet this year, one of the lasting testaments to his style of acting “Around the World in 80 Days”, has been deemed worthy of a remake starring none other than Steve Coogan. Its come to something when one of the most charming men of the 20th [Read More]